The present invention relates to a pin retainer for holding panel sections in an assembled condition, which permits use of identical corner posts for the panels for receiving the pin for versatility in configuring panel assemblies.
Assemblies of panels are used for a wide variety of purposes, particularly for displays, and the panels are usually in sections that can be conveniently handled but which must fit together in various configurations to accommodate the needs of the user. At the present time, panels which have edge posts with a panel wall supported by the posts, as well as top and bottom structural members, are held assembled on top of another panel using pins which are retained in receptacles in the aligning ends of the edge posts. However, a pin that has a uniform diameter throughout is utilized in the prior art, and this means that in order to permit the pin to slip into an opening in the end posts on one of the panels, while having the pin retained in the posts of the mating panel, the receptacles in the aligning end posts have to be configured differently.
The pins are usually press fitted into end receptacles of one set of posts using dimples that engage the side walls of the pin, and a pin stop is provided for preventing the press fitted pin from sliding inwardly into the post opening (the end posts are usually extrusions) more than a desired amount. The free end of the pins held in one panel have to slip freely into the receptacles in the ends of the posts of a mating panel, so with a uniform diameter pin the mating panel posts cannot have dimples or stops or the free end of the pin would not slip in. This means that top and bottom panels are not interchangeable, and that the panel that is holding the pins has end posts that differ in configuration from the end posts of panels into which the free ends if the pins slip.